Will Shohei Ohtani pitch in MLB playoffs? Dodgers manager leaves door open, says he ‘wouldn’t put it past him’

Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani has been relegated to designated hitter duties this season as he recovers from elbow surgery. He’s certainly done plenty on the offensive side. Ohtani is the NL MVP frontrunner and is likely to become the first player ever to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season. 

Still, there’s intrigue with Ohtani that extends beyond his offensive prowess and that’s his ability to also pitch at an All-Star level. He had his surgery Sept. 19, 2023 and continues his rehab. The typical recovery process is generally somewhere in the 12-to-18-month range and he’s less than a week away from the one-year mark. 

Still, we know Ohtani is progressing with his mound work and the Dodgers have a litany of pitchers on the injured list as they prepare for yet another postseason. Might we see Ohtani on the mound in the playoffs? Dodgers manager Dave Roberts weighed in Friday, and he did not close the door on the idea.

“I think that you should always leave some margin, a crack in the door for any possibility,” Roberts said on MLB Network Radio Friday. “If things line up and there’s a need and the game, his body, everything is telling us that it makes sense in that situation, great. And it would be storybook. But I think to kind of count on that, bet on that, I think that’s an unfair way to go about it.

“Shohei is on board to just continue his rehab process and I wouldn’t put it past him to have an eye on that and we’ll just see how it plays out.” 

Ohtani would obviously need to be medically cleared for live action before taking the hill and then he’d have to be comfortable with it, just as the Dodgers front office would as well as Roberts and his on-field staff — including pitching coach Mark Prior. If all those hurdles are cleared, Ohtani still surely wouldn’t be working long outings. That means it would boil down to one-inning appearances, likely in relief.

The Dodgers currently have seven starting pitchers and three relievers on the injured list. Yoshinobu Yamamoto only has one start under his belt since returning from the IL. The only two starters with more than 20 starts this season are Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone and both are currently on the injured list. 

Through all this, the Dodgers are still 87-59, which is good for a five-game lead in the NL West. 

Ohtani, 30, is hitting .292/.375/.617 with 30 doubles, seven triples, 47 home runs, 104 RBI, 116 runs, 48 stolen bases and 7.4 WAR this season. He last pitched in 2023, when he was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings. 

If everything breaks right, Ohtani could be a major weapon out of the bullpen in October, but until we see him starting to get up on a major-league mound, it remains unlikely and possibly even in pipe-dream territory.